A cousin recently sent this to me and I thought I would share. Judith Jane Bowmer was the daughter of William Bowmer and Eliza S. Bryan. She married Lysander Gilmore in 1836 at the age of 15.

Judith Jane Bowmer Gilmore

(a newspaper article written about her 80th birthday party, Sept. 13, 1901)

Last Friday, Sept. 13, was the eightieth birthday of our esteemed neighbor and friend, Mrs. J. J. Gilmore and her children and grandchildren planned to celebrate the same, which they did right royally at her home in the village of Georgetown, Wisconsin. They sent invitations to some sixty of her old neighbors and friends, who gathered at her home and enjoyed the hospitality of the family in a manner long to be remembered. The family represented four generations, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter.

Although Friday and the 13th day of the month, everything was propitious for the occasion. The sun came out from behind the clouds that morning, and shed its light and warmth on the crowd assembled on the beautiful lawn made so by the labor of our hostess, who at the age of eighty, had raked it for the occasion. Tables set under the trees which fairly groaned under the weight of the good things to eat. In the mean time the guests were enjoying themselves sitting around in groups, telling stories of ye olden times and of the changed conditions of things, since Mrs. Gilmore came to this, then territory, of Wisconsin in 1828, and many a ripple of laughter was heard as some funny incident of their early life was told.

Dinner was announced, the guests seating themselves around the long tables under the shadow of the trees. They, not unmindful of the occasion, had purchased a very comfortable rocking chair, to be presented to their aged friend and neighbor as a token of their regard and esteem for her. It was brought out, and in behalf of the guests, it was presented to her by the honorable J. H. Cabanis of Platteville, who in appropriate remarks alluded to the happy occasion and hoped that she would live for many years to come and use the chair for her ease and comfort. He also presented her with a ten dollar gold piece, the gift of her son, Hiram Gilmore, of Farley, Iowa. The children at home and those far away, remembered their mother with tokens of their love and affection, by sending her many valuable presents. The neighbors and friends also remembered her with tokens of their appreciation of their love and affection, by sending her many valuable presents. In her behalf, her son, Hiram, replied, thanking the friends for the kindness shown his beloved mother, and incidentally referring to her early history. After this the tables were made to feel thankful for the relief given, by the consuming of the good things which weighted them down. The afternoon was spent in visiting and renewing old acquaintances, and congratulating Mrs. Gilmore on her health, and wishing that she might live for many years to come. As the time came, the friends departed for their respective homes, never to forget the happy occasion.

It is fitting at this time to write a short biography of our friend and our neighbor, the subject of the above birthday party.

Mrs. J. J. Gilmore was born in the State of Missouri, Sept. 13, 1821. When quite young, she came with her parrents to what was then the Territory of Wisconsin, and has lived in this vicinity ever since, a period of seventy-three years. The Bowmers (her maiden name) in their native state, were slave owners and brought one with them under bonds of indenture, who was given her liberty at the death of her mistress, Mrs. Bowmer.

When she first came here the country was comparatively a vast wilderness, and the Indian roamed over it at his will, and everywhere the red man and his squaw was in evidence. The woods were full of game; deer were plenty, and an occasional bear was seen; the vast prairies were desert-like in appearance, almost without a house, and not a fence to be seen. The Indian and the wolf prowled and howled about the country. And it was not always safe for a white person to venture far from home. During the Black Hawk War, she with many other white women, took refuge in a fort at Galena. Her mother died at Galena, and it was her desire that the subject of this sketch remain there and be sent to school. She remained there for some time, was well acquainted with many of the early settlers of that city, the Campbells, Newhalls, and many others. When she first went to Galena there were only a few cabins to mark the spot of the future metropolis, and one small hotel, known as the Swan Hotel.

She afterward returned to the town of Smelser. Her father owned the land now owned by Lincoln Peacock and James Pinch, which he sold to J. M. Smelser, which is now alluded to as the Smelser farm; and one of the first schools taught in the town of Smellser home, which was torn down only a few years ago. School houses were not plenty in these days, and primitive affairs they were, built of logs, chucked with mud, and the furniture consisted of a slab seat and the desks built around the school house. The only light in the winter was through a hole covered with a piece of greased paper. The scholars wore suits of homespun in the summer (and) both sexes went barefooted. Such were the condition of things, when she with her family began life in the year 1836. At that time a frame house was a rare thing, and sod houses being the rule. People drove miles in an ox cart to trade and to (go to) church. A spring wagon was a luxury not to be thought of.

She has lived to see the wonderful changes time has wrought. The Indian has gone; he no longer exists a danger to life and property, but is now so rare as to be a curiosity which we will go many miles to see, and when we see him, we find that the civilizing influence of the white man has converted him into an industrious citizen. The deer, and other large game are driven from their haunts by the advance in civilization. The agriculturalists have made the vast prairies to bloom like the rose, and palatial residences dot the whole surface, and the introduction of the railroad, the telegraph and telephone, she has lived to see and behold for herself. The privileges that she and her family were deprived of such as church, school, and society, are now in reach of every one. Our churches are luxurious and comfortable. The school houses are built having in view the personal comfort of the scholars, and supplied with every appliance to advance the scholar in his respective studies. She has raised to manhood and womanhood four children under the most adverse surroundings. They were given every advantage of the times which were limited to the extreme, and with their education and natural ability are fitted to grace any position in their sphere of life. She early taught them the lessons of industry, frugality, honesty, and integrity, and the lessons were well learned and never forgotten.

This aged mother, as she sits in her easy chair, closes her eyes and looks back over her well spent life, will have but few things to regret and many to feel proud of. She was never called to the bedside of the sick and dying, no matter what the weather might be, she went; her hard and withered hand has softly soothed the pain and cooled the fever of many a neighbor- but her crowning glory is the fact that her children love her, and that they are respected and honored citizens of this grand Republic.

(Written by a guest at the party)